While some of your tweets might be of utmost importance to you, most people could not care less, according to a study from a group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, and Georgia Tech.

The team created a Web site called Who Gives a Tweet? to assess the value of thousands of tweets. Over the course of 19 days in December, 1,443 people visited the site to analyze 43,738 tweets from 2,014 accounts. The site found that people enjoyed just over one third (36 percent) of tweets. On the other hand, they felt neutral toward 39 percent of tweets and disliked 25 percent.

"A well-received tweet is not all that common," Michael Bernstein, a doctoral student at MIT and one of the researchers, said in a blog post. "A significant amount of content is considered not worth reading, for a variety of reasons."

The study found that 140-character messages about someone's mood, such as "so excited for the weekend," or current state, like "making a sandwich," were among the most repulsive. However, tweets that included questions, information, or links to articles promoted by journalists, were more likable.

"If we understood what is worth reading and why, we might design better tools for presenting and filtering content, as well as help people understand the expectations of other users," said Paul Andre, another researcher and a doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon.

From the results, the researchers cobbled together some advice for people looking to increase the value of their feed. For example, they warned against whining (like these people), divulging inane personal details, and posting old news (see slideshow below). They also indicated that it's important to offer an opinion and keep tweets short.

Among the 200 million tweets that Twitter said its users send per month, there's bound to be a gold mine of detestable content. Who Gives a Tweet is no longer accepting users to have their tweets analyzed, but you can still sign up on the site to rate the tweets of others.

About the Author

Leslie Horn joined the PCMag team as a news reporter in the fall of 2010. She covered a wide range of topics, from digital media to the latest Apple rumor. After graduating with a degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Missouri, she wrote for Out & About, a travel guide in coastal Maine. One of her favorite reporting experiences was c... See Full Bio

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